This week’s fresh listings:

 

This page is to be updated every Tuesday and will contain all the latest Coin, Medal & Token listings for that particular week.

 

The more observant of you may have realised that I no longer keep previous "Fresh Listings" coins on this page. 

All for sale coins can be found via the category grid on the front page.  Most sold coins are now accessible via a new link on that same category grid.

 

 

Additions to www.HistoryInCoins.com for week commencing Tuesday 25th November 2025

 

 

WJC-9230:  1644 Oliver Cromwell MARSTON MOOR Military Reward Silver-Gilt Medal - Earl of Manchester; General.  Obverse: bust of the Earl of Manchester (inherited his title in 1642, previous to that he was Edward Montagu, Lord Manderville, eldest son of  the first Earl of Manchester), three-quarters, with bare, long hair falling on the collar, wearing armour, scarf across the body.  Reverse: the Arms of Montagu in a garnished shield with the Earl's coronet above.  Wreathed border both sides.  Medallic Illustrations (i) 309/137, unlisted in Eimer.  Extra image here.  A military reward, issued by the General to his men during the Battle of Marston Moor on 2nd July, 1644.  The Earl of Manchester's troops, in union with those under Tomas Fairfax and Scottish troops under the command of the Earl of Leven (although Manchester was commander-in-chief at Marston Moor), defeated the Parliamentary forces under Prince Rupert.  The Battle of Marston Moor was a seminal conflict in what was the first of three English Civil Wars, not counting the one between Stephen and the Empress Matilda a few centuries earlier).  An extremely important historical artefact from one of the most interesting and bloody periods of this country's history!  £1,875

Provenance:

ex Drewry family collection (through decent)

ex Coin Galleries (1991)

 

WSax-9231:  Aethelstan 1st Middle Saxon, Kings of East Anglia, Hammered Silver Penny.  Reigned 825-45 but the non-portrait issues were post 827.  B.M.C. 8 - ETHELSTANI (a unique regnal reading with the addition of the final letter I for this specific issue only) surrounding the Alpha symbol.  The reverse has a central Cross Pattée with the moneyer, TORTHELM, surrounding.  Research undertaken by the Fitzwilliam Museum has tentatively attributed Ipswich as the mint town.  S.R. 950, North 440.  A field-find with obvious issues, although a coin with strong detail and one that is not going to cost you north of £2,500!  This is a commission coin: I hold the coin and will be responsible for posting it.  There is no discount as the buyer pays the owner via BACS or cheque, not me.  £435

 

WTH-9232:  An Absolutely Outstanding Edward VI Hammered Silver Shilling.  Second period (January 1549 to April 1550), second debased issue.  Initial mark Y.  Tower (London) mint.  Dated 1550.  The Tim Owen ticket points out that this coin has an "Unusual Portrait", and indeed it does as it is not listed in Coins of England (formerly Spink, now S.R.).  They list Busts 1 and 2 (along with the Durham House bust) for the first issue and busts 3, 4 and 5 for the second issue.  This coin is none of those, instead attributed as "Bispham bust 5".  Please note, S.R. bust 5 is not this coin, instead, to utterly confuse us all, S.R. bust 5 is Bispham but 4!  Bispham bust 5, this coin, has hair swept forward from behind the ear together with a fastener or brooch just above the shoulder.  All that aside, this coin is a superb example of what is virtually always a horrible issue, not least as a result of the debased nature of the silver content, inherited from Edward's father, Henry VIII.  Choice and rare.  £1,395

Provenance:

ex Tim Owen

 

WTH-9233:  Elizabeth 1st MILLED or Machine-Made Silver GROAT.  Initial mark Star, undated but circa 1561 only.  S.R. 2601.  The following, which I highlight at the top of the Elizabeth 1st page, is fact:  “85% of Mestrelle’s meagre experimental machine-made coins were sixpences dated 1562.  This leaves 15% for all the other Screw-Pressed sixpences, shillings, groats, threepences, halfgroats, three farthings and the gold coinage.”  That really doesn't leave a lot of other coins.  It is interesting to note that in recent years, 1562 milled sixpences have been sold at four figures, with a small percentage achieving close to, if not in excess of, £2,000.  Clearly that's a grade thing but never-the-less, if 1562 milled sixpences in top grade are deemed to be worth £2,000, what price the other 15% of denominations in good grades?!  Queen Elizabeth 1st herself visited both mints (Upper & Lower Houses) upon the occasion of the near completion of the recoinage on 10th July 1561.  She met with Eloye Mestrelle and viewed his machinery, which sounds like a euphemism but is not.  The visit was reported to be six hours in length.  Eleven years later, Eloye Mestrelle was dismissed from the mint in 1572 and just six years after that, he was executed (hanged) for counterfeiting.  When this milled issue first appeared on the streets of London in the later months of 1561, it was so different looking to what was in peoples' pockets at the time that it was met with immediate suspicion and distrust.  People literally bit and bent the coins to test the metal content.  And then, just a very few months on from the introduction into circulation, the groats were discontinued, along with the regular hammered groats.  A rare coin indeed - the first I've had in many years, if memory serves - together with giving us a tangible insight into 1561 Tudor life in London!  £1,385

Provenance:

ex Tim Owen